Annual motorist assistance project reaches milestone

For 20 years now, motorists have been enjoying worry-free driving on both the North and South Luzon Expressways, knowing that a motorist assistance camp is not that far away.

Petron Corp. has made it an annual project to set up assistance camps along the NLEX and SLEX as the company’s way of helping travelers get to their destinations safe and sound.

Booths are strategically located in areas, where motorists can request for safety checks and have their exhausted engines re-energized.

And this year, the oil firm will also be giving away free drinking water, free emergency cell phone calls as well as offer rest room facilities, traffic report updates via its radio station partners, towing services and the other service staples like minor repairs by roving mechanics and first aid teams.

Petron said its employees and partners are now manning camps to continue the longest running free motorists assistance project called "Petron Lakbay Alalay."

Lakbay Alalay is a pioneering roadside assistance program, which started in 1987. Its purpose was to provide service to motorists exiting and entering Metro Manila by North during Holy Week when road travel is heaviest.

Petron advises motorists to drop by their service stations for safety checks of their vehicles so that a car’s running condition can be examined. 

This year’s free safety checks started as early as March 25 and will continue until April 16, Easter Sunday.

Manning the operations of Lakbay Alalay are hundreds of Petron employees who have volunteered to spend their Holy Week on the road. 

"At Petron, we advocate volunteerism among our employees. It is our way of giving back to our customers who continue to support our ideals and programs," said Lakbay Alalay operations head Steve Acayan. – Michael Punongbayan